The invention relates to time measuring devices and more particularly to time measuring devices for use in monitoring the intensity of usage of electrically-operated appliances, such as televisions and telephones.
The regulation of children's television watching time is gaining importance as parents, educators, sociologists and other experts in the field of human behavior become more cognizant of the effects of excessive viewing on both academic performance and social behavior. Two types of devices, elapsed time indicators and television regulators, have been used or proposed for use by parents who wish to control the amount of time per day or per week their children watch television. Parents in many households also desire to limit and monitor the amount of time a child spends on the telephone. Children, especially teenagers, tend to monopolize the telephone, thereby tying up a two-way communication device which is blocked from incoming calls, as well as inhibiting the ability to call out.
There is presently a need for operators of powered equipment to have the capability of monitoring the rate of usage of said equipment. The applications for such a device have infinite possibilities. For example, in the case of industrial machinery, allocating costs to users, increasing operator productivity, and scheduling preventative maintenance. In the case of household appliances, the purpose for monitoring has been primarily to regulate the amount of use of an appliance, such as a television. These needs have spawned the development of two types of devices, the first of which records total elapsed operating time and the second of which restricts the available operating time of an electrically operated appliance.
A variety of electromechanical and electronic devices have been described which automatically monitor and record the total elapsed operating time of mechanical or electrical equipment, thus eliminating the requirement to manually record start and stop times and calculate accumulated time of use. A number of such devices measure and record the accumulated operating time of particular classes of industrial equipment, such as trolley cars, as described in Arthur, U.S. Pat. No. 1,458,509, large electrical motors, as described in Johnson, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 1,475,831, and automatic data processing equipment, as described in Mackay, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,221,489. Other devices, such as that described in Wilder, U.S. Pat. No. 464,540, and numerous variations thereof, have broader application, being capable of measuring and recording the accumulated operating time of virtually any electrically operated equipment or household appliance.
All of the above-cited devices accumulate total elapsed operating time of the equipment in question. For purposes of regulating appliance usage, these devices share the major disadvantage that they do not have the capability of registering or displaying the intensity of use, i.e., the amount of actual use per given time interval. For example, if a parent wants to know the number of hours per week a television is being watched, additional time records must be kept and separate calculations computed manually.
A number of devices have been proposed, especially to regulate the operating time of appliances, and more specifically, televisions. These devices limit the total available use time or restrict the specific hours of permissible use, or both. Noiles, U.S. Pat. No. 3,581,029 describes a TV On Time Control, based on a countdown timer which is set using a control contained within a lockable case. Once set, the timer deducts time from the set amount whenever the television is operating. Leone, U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,779 describes a Television Timer to Regulate Television Viewing Time, which includes a countdown timer similar to that described by Noiles, but which deducts time whether or not the television is operating. Pressman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,495 describes a Television Monitor and Control, a timer similar to that described by Noiles, but which also restricts television viewing to certain pre-selectable times of the day. Maclay, U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,901 describes a Timer Control for Television, a timer similar to that described by Leone, but which also displays the amount of remaining available operating time and which includes a key operated switch to disable the subtraction of time when the parents are watching alone. Each of these devices uses a case with lock and key to restrict access to the setting and resetting controls. Each device also includes a means of retaining the television's power cord within the locked case and a means to control the supply of electrical power to the television. When the respective viewing limits are exceeded, the power to the television is switched off by the device, thereby disabling the television until the controls are reset. The only information displayed by these devices is the remaining available operating time, which, in the case of the devices described by Pressman and Leone, is visible only when the case is unlocked. None of these devices monitors or displays the rate of actual appliance usage, for example, the number of hours per week the television has actually been operated. Leone's device requires manual resetting of the countdown timer when it runs down. The other three television regulating devices automatically reset the timer at the expiration of successive fixed time periods. All of the television regulating devices require the timing controls to be set initially by the parent.
A major disadvantage shared by all of the previously described prior art, both television regulating devices and elapsed time indicators, is that they do not inform the parents as to the actual rate of usage of the television. This is a severe disadvantage for parents of pre-school age children who are most likely to be impacted by the negative effects of excessive television viewing. The onus is upon the parents to make instantaneous viewing decisions for this age group in view of the complexity inherent in the above-described devices and the unlikelihood that the instant age group could understand the restrictions. In order for parents to monitor compliance with weekly viewing guidelines, to reinforce good viewing habits, and to ascertain both desirable and undesirable trends, the parents would have to maintain additional records and further manually calculate viewing hours per day, week, or any designated interval.
A further disadvantage of the aforementioned prior art television regulating devices is that they require the parent to set, and in some cases, periodically reset, the timers which control viewing. This requirement, in view of its complexity, makes the equipment more difficult to operate; it creates the need for numerous switches, dials, and other controls, which significantly increases the costs to manufacture these devices. Multiple controls also decrease the reliability of the devices, since switches and dials have high failure rates relative to other electronic components.
A major disadvantage of the prior art television regulating devices is that they regulate the appliance's use time by automatically shutting off power to the appliance. Many modern and sophisticated television sets have solid state digital memories containing, for example, clock time and option selections set by the user, and shutting off the power to the television can cause this data to be erased. Furthermore, all of these regulating devices use locks and keys to restrict access to the setting and resetting controls. This fact, coupled with an automatic shut-off mechanism, can cause an extended and frustrating interruption in a television program if for some reason the key is not readily accessible at the time the television is disabled.
The above stated disadvantages of both elapsed time indicators and television regulators also relate to monitoring the usage rate of telephones. As none of these devices monitor and display the rate of usage, they also necessitate setting and resetting controls, are inconvenient to operate and interpret, are expensive to manufacture, and are not as reliable as other electronic components. The prior art television regulating devices, in particular, because they regulate usage by disabling the regulated appliance, would be unacceptable for monitoring telephones, a the conversation could be interrupted and incoming calls blocked.